My Backstory
My Backstory
In four parts (so far)
In four parts (so far)
I have always been a voracious reader. Growing up, I spent hours at the library, perusing shelves and discovering and devouring books. Those summer reading competitions were no match for me. While I read across genres, mysteries were always my favorite. I loved sifting through every chapter and detail for clues and feeling that rush of adrenaline as the story drew me toward the big reveal.
Writing and storytelling were a natural extension of my love for learning and exploring through books. Armed with a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a style guide or two, I enjoyed wielding the tools of writing to craft stories and share ideas, perspectives, and knowledge with others.
In middle school, I fell in love with science as well. It was a perfect match for my love of mysteries. Though I was now the one searching for clues and running experiments to find answers to endless questions.
Fast-forward to college, where I majored in chemistry. While science was my primary focus, I didn’t leave writing behind. As a writing advisor in the campus writing center, I helped students refine their ideas, work through challenging sections, and strengthen their points of view. As an outside “expert,” I offered feedback grounded in experience and my knowledge of writing techniques. I wanted every student to leave not with a quick fix but with new knowledge and tools they could use in the future.
By the end of college, I knew I didn’t want to pursue laboratory science as a career, though I still wanted to do something science-related. I headed to graduate school with the goal of becoming a science journalist for a publication such as National Geographic or Science magazine.
I moved to Seattle, where the University of Washington (UW) offered a graduate program in technical communication and a series of classes focused on science journalism. While the program name might bring to mind documentation, which was one element, UW’s program was far broader. The focus was on bridging the gap between audiences and the information they needed, regardless of topic or medium. I also had the opportunity to teach introductory technical communication classes to engineering students while completing my degree. (The college later recognized the broader focus and renamed the program to human-centered design and engineering.)
I approached my first science journalism class with confidence and was selected to write the cover story for a new science magazine the department was piloting. I turned in my first draft, revised it based on my instructor/editor-in-chief’s feedback, and was stunned to find a completely rewritten version published. It was my first real experience with an editor who rewrote rather than coached or collaborated. Needless to say, it squashed my enthusiasm for pursuing journalism at that time. I couldn’t imagine repeating that process again and again.
While my journalism path stalled, other parts of the program introduced me to user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. I learned techniques for deeply understanding users and audiences, and then how to use that information to design and present information when and where it was needed. These classes sparked a new career interest and direction.
As I finished my master’s degree, an opportunity with IBM in the Bay Area, where I’d grown up, presented itself, taking me back to California. The role involved writing documentation for database developers, and through that experience, I was introduced to software and product development. I also found opportunities to continue sharing my knowledge and experience with others and taught continuing education classes in technical communication at a local adult school.
After IBM, I relocated back to the Pacific Northwest. This time to Portland, Oregon, where I worked for over twenty years in UX, product management, and product marketing. Writing and editing remained central skills, whether communicating roadmaps and designs, drafting release notes, training sales teams, presenting to clients, or crafting messaging and marketing campaigns.
Outside my full-time work, I managed a car club my dad started and, for fifteen years, served as editor and publisher of a quarterly automotive newsletter distributed to more than 2,000 members worldwide. I also worked as a developmental editor for a close friend writing a romance novel that she’s since published, which taught me the value of aligning the type of editing to the stage of the manuscript and how to support a writer through their process.
In late 2020, a new opportunity presented itself at a digital marketing agency working with Intel. My primary responsibility was leading a team of writers and editors to produce high-volume content on the business benefits of leading-edge technologies. It was an ideal blend of science, technology, writing, user experience, collaboration, and mentoring. But this time, rather than being a writer, I was the managing editor.
The irony wasn’t lost on me: I’d become an editor, and it was a negative editing experience that had once reshaped my career path. Fortunately, that previous experience taught me what not to do. I understood how it felt to have someone change my work, and I carried that empathy into my own editorial approach. I'd also learned over years of teaching, mentoring, and working on creative teams how to give and receive feedback and collaborate more meaningfully.
I loved leading that program for more than five years. Every day, I learned something new and worked with talented writers who could quickly grasp complex technical topics and communicate them simply and clearly. I also discovered that what I’d been doing, and loved all along, was developmental editing: helping writers refine their stories to connect deeply with readers.
As I set out to become a freelance developmental editor, I pursued formal training opportunities to build on the editing skills I'd developed over the years and better meet the needs of fiction writers. I earned a certificate in developmental editing from UW and have since taken dozens of additional industry- and genre-specific courses. I'm also an active member of the professional editing community.
I’ve now worked with multiple authors on poetry, creative nonfiction, and adult, young adult, and middle-grade fiction. While I enjoy working across genres, my current focus is adult romance and its many subgenres. Romances are full of hope and happy endings, despite the trials and tribulations the characters face. I love the foreshadowing of budding interest, the subtle shifts in perspective, the first spark, and the adrenaline rush that keeps me reading late into the night as the story races toward its conclusion.
I also edit middle-grade fiction for readers ages eight to twelve. I'm drawn to the deeper plots, strong character development, and rich worldbuilding; young characters who demonstrate resilience, persistence, bravery, and internal strength; and themes of family, friendship, and belonging.
Even in the face of tricky parts and tight deadlines, every day that I get to work with writers and words is a joy. I’d love the opportunity to work with you and see how the next chapter of our stories unfolds.